One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was, as usual, in a bar, drinking away his troubles while watching his career circle the drain. Then a space pilot bought him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knew, he was shanghaied to Mars. Smythe suddenly found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnapped. Peace with the Martians was at stake, and failure to pull off the act could result in interplanetary war. Smythe knows nothing of the issues concerning free interplanetary trade and equal rights for aliens, and cares even less, but the handsome compensation is impossible to refuse. He soon realizes, however, that he faces a lifetime masquerade if the real politician never shows up.